Kuroinu Ch. 1 Editor’s Corner – Prelude

We begin this four part series with a short introduction to the world and characters of Kuroinu!

A long, long time ago, Ostia’s civilized races had little to fear from the aberrant races that dwelled in the Northlands. Known as the Legion ever since they had first appeared thousands of years ago, their constant infighting and lack of organization kept them from being little more than a nuisance to the civilized races in the south. Every so often they might scrape together a warband, raping and pillaging their way down south until they would be inevitably pushed back by a better disciplined and trained army from the civilized races. With the civilized races lacking any real incentive or tangible reward to pursue the Legion’s forces any further, that would be the end of it, at least until the next aberrant incursion began anew.

However, one day the appearance of the giant castle known as the “Black Citadel” broke this intermittent cycle of raiding. Acting as a stronghold for the Legion, it acted as a rally point for aberrants of all kinds to band together underneath the Dark Queen. In order to meet this new threat, the civilized races banded together to form the Seven Shields Alliance, taking their name from the defensive line of seven fortresses they raised to meet this new, evolved threat from the Legion.

Fast forward through several hundred years of constant warfare. Battle is no longer fought primarily by the knights of the Alliance, but by professionals of the trade: mercenaries. For many years these sellswords and soldiers of fortune were looked down upon, but in the present day they have become a respected class unto themselves, more organized and well-armed than ever before. The largest and most capable of these mercenary armies, the Black Dogs underneath the command of the one and only Vult, was tasked by the Alliance with what on paper sounded like a suicide mission: an all-in full frontal assault on the Black Citadel itself. The scant reasoning for such a bold attack? A mere premonition from a clairvoyant high elf, who was regarded by the Church as a reborn goddess.

Fortunately for the Alliance, the high elf’s premonition was accurate, and Vult’s Black Dogs were victorious beyond their wildest dreams. Without a single hitch, they routed the Legion, deposed the Dark Queen, and occupied the Black Citadel. Unfortunately for the Alliance, the high elf’s premonition failed to predict the aftermath of such a momentous event.

Vult – hungry for power, drunk on his success, disgruntled by his flippant treatment by the Church as an expendable asset, and currently in absolute command of Ostia’s greatest and most capable military force – announced his betrayal of the Alliance. The Black Citadel would become the capital of Vult’s new and bizarre nation: the “Cuntry,” where all women were obligated to offer their bodies in sexual service to any and all men.

It was the kind of proclamation that had priestesses, knights, and princesses of the Seven Shields Alliance questioning their sanity. Soon enough, though, they would learn firsthand that Vult meant every word he said. Their fortresses would fall to Cuntry’s forces one by one, and their bodies would became little more than his property for him to enjoy however he pleased…

Kuroinu Chapter 1 tells the story of Vult’s rise to power, featuring the the fall of three heroines: the Dark Queen Olga Discordia, her retainer Chloe, and the holy knight Claudia.

Kuroinu Chapter 1 is now available for pre-order! On sale March 31st! Pre-order today to get your copy for 10% off!